The situation of
human rights in Belarus in March showed the extent to which the Belarusian
authorities weren't ready to follow the way of democratic reforms. Execution of
two death convicts was one of the most important events that month. Human
rights defenders are of the opinion that it was consciously done to thwart the
requirements of the national legislation and the international undertakings
that were ratified by the country. On 23 March, the Human Rights Center Viasna, the Belarusian Helsinki
Committee, Amnesty International, the
Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of
the OSCE adopted an official statement to condemn the actions of the
authorities. The international community was indignant that the executions were
performed against the background of negotiations between Belarus and the
Council of Europe about introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty.

On 9 March the Human Rights Center Viasna
presented its Review-Chronicle of
Human Rights Violations in Belarus in 2009. The Human Rights Defenders Against Death Penalty campaign was launched
in 2009, which was reflected in the book. Meanwhile, it was noted that the
previous year hadn't become the decisive one for the abolition of the death
penalty or introduction of moratorium on the death penalty in our country.
Belarus still remains the only post-Soviet European country to issue and
execute death sentences.

Human rights defenders treated as positive the intention of the authorities to
adopt a law on alternative civilian service. Before this, the absence of such
law provided the possibility of prosecution of the people who refused from
military service on religious grounds. The latest events marked a considerable
progress in this direction. In particular, on 10 March civil activist Ivan
Mikhailau, a believer of the Messianic Jews'Church, was released from
the Zhodzina jail. Before this, on 9 March, the panel of judges of the Minsk
Region Court reversed the verdict of a lower court, according to which the
believer had been sentenced to three months of arrest for evasion from military
service. The case was returned for the second trial and the restraint to
Mikhailau was changed to undertaking not to leave. By the way, the arrest term
was to have ended on 15 March, which means that he served almost the whole
term. On 12 March, the Homel Region Court reversed the verdict of the Savetski District
Court of Homel on the case of Yauhen Yakavenka, an activist of the Belarusian Christian Democracy accused
of the failure to appear at the military enlistment office on an official writ.
The case was returned for the second trial as well. On 15 March, the Presidium
of the Homel Region Court also reversed the verdict according to which Zmitser
Smyk, a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious community was to be
fined 3.5 million rubles (about $1,200).

The traditional street action dated to the anniversary of declaration of the
Belarusian People's Republic took place on 25 March. The action went quietly
despite the disagreement of its organizers with the route which was determined
by the Minsk City Executive Committee to direct the participants from the
Academy of Sciences to the Bangalore Square and an unfrequented Druzhby Narodau
Park. At 6 p.m., it was discovered that the sound-enhancing equipment had been
detained and taken to the Tsentralny District Police Department of Minsk.
Police told the action organizers that they allegedly had information that some
citizens of the Russian Federation resembling those who had organized the
explosion on 4 July were 2008 were present near the place of the gathering and
could attempt to disrupt the celebration of the Freedom Day with the use of
explosive devises. Moreover, some potential participants of the event were
preventively detained in Minsk and in the regions of Belarus. Yury Karetnikau,
Chairperson of the Right Alliance, was detained near the railway station.
There was an attempt to detain civil activist Yauhen Afnahel near his
apartment. In Asipovichy, policemen and an officers of the district procuracy
searched the apartment of Ihar Simbirou, an activist of the Belarusian Popular
Front Adradzhenne. The members of the organizing committee of the
Belarusian Christian Democracy Party Taisiya Kabanchuk, Ihar Kazimirchyk,
Yauhen Vishniakou and Maksim Charniak were guarded to the police station of the
Babruisk railway and questioned about the possible drug trafficking. Short
before the action, police confiscated from Andrei Krechka, Chairperson of the BPF
Youth, 20 white-red-white flags 2x1 meters and 500 paper flags with symbols
of the BPF Youth and the Pahonia emblem.

The action gathered less than 2,000 people. Political activists delivered
speeches through a loudspeaker. After a short meeting, youth activists tried to
proceed towards the National Library and Yakub Kolas Square, but the way was
overlapped by riot police.

In March the authorities increased the pressure on freedom of speech, which
manifested in the persecution of journalists. Several searches were held on 16
March in their offices and private apartments. In particular, searches were
held at the office of the Charter'97 civil initiative (the police broke
there using violence, journalist Natallia Radzina was punched in the face), in
the apartment of Iryna Khalip, at the working place of Sviatlana Kalinkina,
editor of the Narodnaya Volia, in the apartment of Maryna Koktysh,
deputy editor of the Narodnaya Volia and the apartment of Natallia
Radzina. Information carriers including computers, HDDs, CDs, USB flash drives
and SD cards were confiscated in all cases. As it follows from the documents
that were presented by police officers, the searches were conducted within the
guidelines of the criminal case that was brought on 31 December 2009 under
Article 188, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus concerning
libel against Ivan Korzh, former Chairperson of the Homel Region KGB Department.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists addressed the Prosecutor General of
Belarus in connection with the persecution of journalists. At the same time,
the Interior Minister, Anatol Kuliashou, ignored the request for a meeting with
the BAJ administration in connection with violations of journalists' rights by
people in mufti during the street actions that had taken place in autumn 2009.
As it follows from the answer received by BAJ, the minister didn't see any need
to meet with representatives of the journalist community because 'interaction
of officers of law-enforcement agencies and journalists is regulated by the Law
On Mass Media'.

On 22 March Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus Anatol
Tserakh turned down the claim of the Belarusian Association of Journalists
against a warning of the Ministry of Justice. The warning was left standing,
which means that the BAJ was obliged to take all certificates of BAJ members
with the inscription 'press' away from its members and prevent anybody from
using them in the future. The Ministry also stated that activity of the Center
for Legal Defense of the Media at BAJ was not provided for by the organization
charter.

On 17 and 25 March police twice confiscated circulations of the private
newspaper Nash Dom which was issued by the civil initiative of the same
name. Moreover, a car with 10,000 copies of the Vitebskiy Kuryer newspaper
that were transported by Viktar Ramniou, manager of the Vitebskiy Korund private
enterprise, was detained by them on 25 March on the Russian border. The
newspaper is registered in Russia and is printed in Smolensk. A report under
Article 22.9, part 2 of the Administrative Code (distribution of periodicals
without imprint) was drawn up on Ramniou, though he didn't distribute the
newspapers, after which he was guarded to court and fined 1,225,000 rubles
(about $415). Human rights defender and journalist Valery Shchukin was detained
near Homel while transporting 24,000 copies of Nash Dom. A similar
report was drawn up on him. The following day Shchukin was tried and fined
900,000 rubles (about $305).

On 25 March the registration of candidates for the Local Councils of the 26th
Convocation came to an end. Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections monitored
this stage of the pre-election campaign and presented a brief analysis and
conclusions on its results. The
number of the denials to register initiative groups decreased in comparison to
the previous election to Local Councils (23 in 2010 compared to more than 100
in 2007). Violation of the principle of 'free participation in elections' was
the main reason for the non-registration of electoral teams during the previous
election, and there was no essential progress this time. According to the
electoral legislation, the local authorities were to determine places for
electoral pickets. In most cases, this provision was used to maximally limit
the possibilities for collecting signatures in support of candidates in
populous places. As a rule, the authorities determined unfrequented places that
were often located quite far from town centers and major traffic lines. As a
result, pickets were not used as a form of collection of signatures by the
majority of pretenders.

On 10 March the European Parliament adopted a resolution to condemn the
official Minsk for the crackdown on the unrecognized Union of Poles in Belarus.
The document contains no calls to renew sanctions against Belarus. However, it
is stated that further human rights violations can lead to cessation of the
dialogue between the EU and Belarus. The European parliamentarians called on
the Belarusian authorities to register the Union of Poles in Belarus headed by
Anzhalika Borys and return all assets that had been confiscated from this
organization. They also demanded to release political activists Andrei
Bandarenka, Ivan Mikhailau and Artsiom Dubski and register the Human Rights
Center Viasna and the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party who had been
repeatedly denied in registering with the state.

1. Death penalty

The UN Human Rights Committee issued a press-release on the results of its spring session in New York,
which noted that the Belarusian government ignored the request of the Committee
to suspend the execution of the death verdicts to the Belarusian citizens Vasil
Yuzepchuk and Andrei Zhuk till consideration of their case at the UN Human
Rights Committee, and thus scandalously violated its international undertakings
under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights. Lawyer Raman Kisliak, the human rights activist who prepared
the individual communications to the UN Human Rights Committee on behalf of the
death convicts, is convinced that thereby the Belarusian authorities challenged
the UN Human Rights Committee and the international community.

2. Persecution of civil and political activists

On 3 March a member of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Andrei Kasheuski,
distributor of the private newspaper Narodnaya Volia, was detained in
the Minsk metro. He was guarded to the Leninski District Court of Minsk,
sentenced to 15 days of jail and fined 700,000 rubles (about $240) by Judge
Navitskaya. The arrest was imposed under Article 17.1 of the Administrative
Code, 'disorderly conduct', and the fine – under Article 23.4, 'insubordination
to police officers'. The activist kept a hunger-strike of protest during the
whole term of his arrest.

On 25 March the Valozhyn District Court fined Anatol Liabedzka, leader of the
United Civil Party, 900,000 rubles (about $305) for 'insubordination to police
officers'. The politician was detained on 15 February near the building of the
military unit where Tereza Sobal, an activist of the disgraced Union of Poles,
was tried at the time.

On 26 March the Maskouski District Court of Minsk turned down the complaint of
Tatsiana Shaputska, press-secretary of the Young Front, against her
unlawful expulsion from the juridical faculty of Belarusian State University
after taking part in the Eastern Partnership Forum on 16-18 November 2009. The
activist proved at the trial that the punishment was incommensurable with her
violation (departure abroad for several days without prior agreement of the
dean's office). However, the judge declared these arguments unconvincing and
took the side of the university administration.

3. Freedom of word and the right to impart information

On 1 March it became known that the Ministry of Information refused to register
a private political edition, Khimik.Dva Goroda for the third time. The
first denial was issued in connection with allegedly insufficient qualification
of the chief editor of the newspaper, the second – for the stated topics and
the latest one – because of pretensions to the premises where the legal address
of the newspaper was located.

On 2 March the editor of the Narodnaya Volia newspaper Sviatlana
Kalinkina lodged a complaint with the Savetski District Procuracy of Minsk
against actions of the policemen who had searched her apartment on 26 February.
The journalist and the lawyers she consulted with are of the opinion that the
search was conducted with a number of violations: the visitors didn't introduce
themselves and the search was conducted by several persons at once. The
journalist wasn't allowed to use her mobile phone and was ordered to turn off
all telephones.

On 10 March court marshals paid a visit to the office of the private newspaper Borisovskiye
Novosti and attached a sofa, a bookcase and a water cooler for compensation
of 2 million rubles that were to be paid by the newspaper to Vera Pratasevich,
editor of the district state-owned newspaper Adzinstva, according to a
court verdict issued at the end of 2009. The reason for the trial was the
article Belarusian Code of Honor by pensioner Valery Nitski, in which
the author criticized the Barysau authorities for creating unequal conditions
for state-owned and private press.

On 11 March it became known that the Ministry of Information issued the second
warning to BelKP Press, editor of the private newspaper Komsomolskaya
Pravda v Belorussii. The reason for the warning wasn't announced.

On 15 March Kseniya Stasiukevich, Judge of the Leninski District Court of
Hrodna, fined the BAJ member Aliaksandr Dzianisau for 'unauthorized journalist
activities', which was qualified as 'Arbitrary rule' (Article 23.39 of the
Administrative Code). The journalist prepared a press release about the local
core studies in secondary school #28 on official permission of the school
administration.

On 18 March Junior European Federalists (JEF) and their partners held a
traditional street action in different cities of the world under the slogan
'Give Voice to People of Belarus'. They tied mouths of statues with pieces of
cloth. The action was dated to the fourth anniversary of a disputable
presidential election in Belarus.

On 25 March Kseniya Stasiukevich fined Aliaksei Kirkevich, Deputy Chairperson
of the local organization of the Young Front, 1,225,000 rubles for distribution
of the newspaper Khrystsiyanskaya Abarona.

4. Politically motivated criminal persecution

On 19 March Volha Shupikava, investigator of the Tsentralny District Police
Department of Homel, presented to Yauhen Yakavenka, the activist of the Belarusian
Christian Democracy who demanded to be assigned to alternative civilian
service, a ruling on instigation of a criminal case against him as an evader
from military service. Meanwhile, on 12 March the Homel Region Court granted
Yakavenka's cassation complaint on the administrative case that had been
brought on the initiative of the Homel City Military Enlistment Office and
abolished the fine to which he had been sentenced by a lower court.

5. Freedom of peaceful assemblies

On 24 March the Leninski District Court of Minsk fined the members of the Human
Rights Center Viasna Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich and Iryna
Toustsik 15,000 rubles (about $5) each for holding an unauthorized picket. The
human rights defenders used an innovation in the Administrative Code, paragraph
6 of Article 6.5 of the Administrative Code, according to which a minimal
punishment can be issued for a misdemeanor. The matter is that on 23 March they
came to the Presidential Administration and unrolled the transparency 'No to
Death Penalty' to protest against the apparent execution of death convicts
Vasil Yuzepchuk and Andrei Zhuk, whose cases were pending at the UN Human
Rights Committee. In several minutes they were detained by the police and
guarded to the delinquents' isolation center in Akrestsin Street where they
spent the night before the trial.

6. Freedom of associations

On 2 March the Ministry of Justice refused to register the Assembly of NGOs for
the third time. As it follows from the papers, the reasons for the registration
denial had little difference from that of the previous times. At the same time,
Siarhei Matskevich, Chairperson of the Assembly's Working Group, emphasized
that this time the Ministry of Justice openly declared its position. 'They
state that democratic organizations cannot form associations. It means that we
are deprived of this right in Belarus,' commented Mr. Matskevich.

On 4 March the Supreme Court left standing the decision of the Hrodna Region
Court concerning the non-registration of the Slonim NGO Zalaty Leu by
the justice department of the Hrodna Region Executive Committee.

On 11 March the panel of judges on civil cases of the Minsk Region Court turned
down the complaint against the verdict of the Valozhyn District Court about
passing the Polish House in Ivianets to the pro-governmental Union of Poles in
Belarus. It means that the disgraced Union of Poles, headed by Anzhalika Borys,
lost this property for good.

On 30 March the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus turned down the
complaint of the Young Belarus movement against its non-registration by
the Ministry of Justice.

7. Freedom of conscience

On 26 March the Minsk City Court didn't grant the complaint of the New Life Church
against the verdict of the Maskouski District Court of Minsk according to which
the Protestant community had been sentenced to pay 8,750,000 rubles for
environmental pollution. Bear in mind that according to the assessment of the
Committee of Natural Recourses and Environmental Protection, the church was
also obliged to pay about 263 million Belarusian rubles for the harm it had
allegedly inflicted to the environment. Thus, the total sum of the sanctions
against the Protestant community was 271,548,725 rubles (about $100). As said
by Siarhei Lukanin, the church lawyer, the judges ignored the believers'
arguments about the unlawfulness of actions of the committee's officers and
also refused to discriminate in the extent of the guilt of the believers.

8. Electoral rights

On 25 March a Homel activist of the Belarusian Christian Democracy, Aliaksandr
Sharypau, was registered as a candidate for the Homel Region and the Homel City
Councils. The following day he was warned that his labor contract, expiring on
3 Mary, wouldn't be extended. A.Sharypau, chief engineer of the private
enterprise Homelkaapdruhresursy, was informed that this decision had
been taken by higher administration – at Homelablspazhyusayuz.